Legalizing marijuana would also generate much-needed tax revenues that can be spent on precisely those two things. From an economic or financial perspective, the legalization of marijuana will also help grow small businesses and thus can alleviate the problems associated with the current economic crisis. Low start-up costs for a marijuana grow operation also mean that low-income families and entrepreneurs can earn extra income in a legitimate way. Marijuana should be made legal because Americans value personal freedoms, too. It makes no sense for alcohol and Xanax to be legal but not marijuana. Marijuana, when made legal, can be regulated in the same way that alcohol and prescription drugs are. Police will not be wasting their time busting people for possessing a plant. Instead, pharmacists can dispense good quality marijuana to people to...
Finally, marijuana does have proven medical benefits and the harms associated with the drug are highly exaggerated.
Works Cited
Armentano, Paul. "DEA Moves to Ban 'Fake Marijuana' Products." NORML. 24 Nov 2010. Retrieved Nov 25, 2010 from http://norml.org/
Cooper, Charles and McCullagh, Declan. "America's Love-Hate History with Pot." CBS News. 13 July 2009. Retrieved Nov 25, 2010: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/13/national/main5154550.shtml
Drug Policy Alliance. Economic consequences of the
war on drugs. Retrieved 25 Nov, 2010: http://www.drugpolicy.org/library/factsheets/economiccons/fact_economic.cfm
"Legalization of Marijuana." LegalizationOfMarijuana.com. Retrieved Nov 25, 2010 from http://legalizationofmarijuana.com/
Marijuana Legalization Organization. Retrieved online: http://www.mjlegal.org/
Nadelmann, Ethan. "Marijuana Legalization: Not if, but When." Huffington Post. 3 Nov, 2010. Retrieved online: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ethan-nadelmann/marijuana-legalization-no_b_778222.html
Sanchez, Ray. "California's Proposition 19 Rejected by Voters." 3 Nov 2010. Retrieved online: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/proposition-19-results-california-votes-reject-marijuana-measure/story?id=12037727
"Yes on Prop 19." Web site retrieved 25 Nov 2010 from: http://yeson19.com/
